The Crash
by Breyna160
Summary: After a tragedy hits, can Lucy and Taylor get their relationship back to how it was? What will it take for them to be happy again.


Taylor's POV: "Sorry, I can't make it to the phone right now, just leave a message and I'll try to get back to you." I hang up. Why is she still mad about this. It's been a week and it's not like I started it. I mean I didn't push him off but not like I wanted to do it in the first place. It just happened. I call her again and it rings a couple of times then goes to voicemail. She won't take my calls or answer my texts. But I text her anyways. "Luce. Please call me back. Or answer me. I'm sorry. I know I should have pushed him off but I was just shocked it was happening. And it was over before I realized it was even happening. Please. I love you. I'm sorry." I send. I wait for ten minutes but I don't get anything. She hates me. I'm sitting in my living room with my brother watching tv. Then I hear a huge crash sound. I stand up and look outside. I see two cars. This silver one that has a little dent in the front and a red one that is smashed up on the passenger's side. I slip on my boots and a jacket and walk outside. I run to the silver car and open the door. "Are you okay?" I ask. The guy looks at me and nods. He climbs out and sits in the ground. "Call 911." I say to him. He takes out his phone and starts calling. I walk up to the red car and my heart stops. Please tell me that's not her car. No, please. I get closer and see her sitting in it. "Lucy. No no. Baby." I say. I reach my hand through the broken window. I cup her face in my hand. "Luce. Baby I'm gonna get you out. Okay?" I say. I try to open the passengers door. It won't budge so I go to the driver's side. I can open that one with a tug. No. Her mom is sitting in the driver's seat. "Taylor?" she says. "Are you okay? Can you get out?" I ask. "Yeah." she says and climbs out. "What about Lucy?" she asks. "I'm gonna get her out. Don't worry. The other guy is calling the ambulance." I say. She walks to him and I climb in the car. "Lucy?" I say. Shes out. No responding. Her eyes are closed and her head is bleeding. "I know you can still hear me. Don't worry baby, I'm gonna get you out." I say. I climb out and go back to the door. I pull on the handle and the door frame. The glass is jagged and I keep getting cut but I don't care. I keep pulling and I can feel it get looser. I'm not usually this strong but my adrenaline is pumping and I feel unstoppable. I pull again and this time it pops open. I reach over her and unbuckle her seatbelt. Then i realize that her left leg is pinned between her seat and the front of the car. I try to push the seat away but it won't budge. There's glass everywhere so I grab a piece and cut the seat next to her leg. I pull out the cushion that's in the chair. I pull a lot out and her leg gets unstuck but I realize that something is stuck in her leg. I put one arm on her back right under her arms and the other one under her legs scooping her into my arms. I pull her out of the car and carry her away from her it. I can hear the ambulance getting closer. I lay her on the ground and take my jacket off. I set it down and lay her head on it. Her leg is bleeding like crazy and her head is slowly bleeding. I take off my over shirt and tie it right above where she's bleeding on her leg. I see the ambulance driving down the street. They stop and get out and put her on the ambulance. "I'll meet you at the hospital." I say to her mom. She nods and climbs on with. I walk inside and grab a different shirt. "Luke, when mom comes home tell her I went to the hospital." I say to my little brother. "Okay." he says. I grab the keys and walk to the car. I start driving to the hospital, trying not to make the glass go further into my hands. I get a call. "Hello?" I answer. "Hey. So are you doing anything tonight?" Nick says. "Fuck off! When are you gonna learn that kiss was a mistake. You kissed me! I have a girlfriend Nick! I don't understand why you kissed me. My girlfriend hates me because of you!" I say. "Sorry. I just thought you wanted to revisit the past a little." he says. "Oh my god! You are unbelievable! Fucking leave me alone!" I say and hang up. When I get to the hospital I park my car and walk inside. "Lucy Webster?" I say to the woman at the front desk. "She just got here in an ambulance. She was in a car accident." I say. "Lucy is still in surgery." She says. "Surgery? For what?" I ask. "I'm sorry but I can't tell anyone besides family." she says. "Well where's her mom?" I ask. "Her mom is waiting for her in the waiting room." she says. "And where's the waiting room?" I ask. "Go down the hall and take the second right. And it will be on your left." she says. "Thank you." I say. I follow her directions and see her mom sitting in the waiting room. "What's happening? They said she was in surgery." I say. "It's just a small procedure to fix her leg." she says. "You should get checked out yourself. Your hands are all cut up." she says noticing my hands. "I'll wait until Lucy's okay." I say. "No. Go get checked out now." she says. "Fine." I say. I walk back to the front of the hospital and eventually I get checked out. They pull all the glass out of my hands and wrap them up with bandage stuff. I go back to the waiting room, and sit next to her mom. My phone rings again. It's my mom. "Hey Mom." I say. "Where are you? Luke said you were at the hospital. What happened? Are you okay?" she asks. "Yes. Mom I'm fine. I'm at the hospital. Lucy was in a car crash that happened right outside our house, so I came here to make sure she's okay." I say. "Lucy. She's all you ever talk about." she says. "Maybe because she's my girlfriend." I say. "Look just be home soon. I hope she's okay but i want you home for dinner." she says. "Mom, I'm not leaving anytime soon. When I know she's okay and I know we're okay, then I might leave. I'll talk to you later." I say and hang up. "Still not realizing this is real?" Lucy's mom asks. "Yes. She still thinks it's a phase and I'm just experimenting. Two years later." I say. "I know you truly love her." she says. "At least one person does." I say. "Lucy knows that." she says. "Yeah. That's exactly why she hasn't spoken to me for the last week." I say. "Wait, are you guys fighting?" she asks. "Not really fighting, she just hates me." I say. "What happened?" she asks. "You know the party last week?" I ask. "Yeah. Harper's?" she asks. "Yeah. Well, Nick decided he wanted to kiss me. I didn't want to kiss him but he caught me off guard. And it was over before I even realized it was happening. And she saw it. And she hasn't talked to me since." I say. "Did you explain to her that it was him that started it and you were just shocked?" she asks. "I've left her twenty voice mails and thirty text messages. I've tried." I say. "Why were you guys driving down my street anyways?" I ask. "She told me she needed to drop something off at your house. But she wouldn't tell me what." she says. "Wait, didn't you drive her home from that party?" she asks. "I was supposed to but she refused to get in my car. So she walked. I just drove next to her and made sure she got home okay. I asked her to get in but she wouldn't. But I wasn't gonna leave her and let her walk home at one in the morning by herself." I say. "Thank you. You are the best girlfriend. You really love her and I know that. She's gonna forgive you." she says. "Thanks." I say. My phone rings again. "Hello?" I say. "Hey babe. So are we hooking up tonight?" Nick says. "Look, Nick. Leave me alone. I don't like you. I have a girlfriend, who I love. Were not going to be together ever. So just stop calling me and-." Lucy's mom rips the phone from my hand. "I'd appreciate it if you were nice to my daughters girlfriend. They love each other and aren't into horny teenage boys that just want sex. Next time either one hears from you I think I'll have a nice chat with your mom about the drugs i know you do. Thank you." she says hangs up. "Have I ever told you that you're the greatest girlfriends mom ever." I say. She hands me back the phone and we just sit there for about an hour. "Okay. When are we gonna find out what's up with Luce? Because if I don't find out soon then I'm probably going to have a legit panic attack." I say. "Okay, calm down. We'll find out soon." she says. Just at that moment, a doctor walks into the waiting room. "Hello. My name is Dr. Franklin and-." I cut him off. "Is she okay?" I ask. He looks at me. "Sorry." I say. "She's going to be fine. The CT scan showed no bleeding in the brain. And her leg will heal over time." he says. "Can we see her?" I ask. "Of course you can." he says. He leads us to her room and we walk in. She's asleep on her bed and right away I sit next to her and grab her hand. "Baby, I'm here. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere." I say. "Taylor." she murmurs. "I'm right here baby." I say tears starting to run down my face. I sit like that for the next thirty minutes. She starts to move around and she turns her head facing me. She opens her eyes and looks at me. "I'm sorry." she says. "Don't be." I say. "I should have believed you. I know you'd never cheat on me." she says. "It's okay." I say pushing the hair off her face. "I'm sorry." she says. "Shh. It's okay baby." I say. "I love you." she says. "I love you too." I say. I kiss her forehead and she falls back asleep. My heart starts going back to its normal rate, now that I know she's okay. And we're okay. My phone rings. "Hello?" I answer. "Are you coming home now?" My mom asks. "No." I say. "Why not?" she asks. "Because, I'm staying at the hospital with my girlfriend." I say. "Why? Why does she have to be your girlfriend?" she asks. "Because I'm gay. And I love her." I say. "You don't know what you are. You're only 18. You don't know what love is. All this is a phase." she says. "A phase? Mom we've been dating for almost two years. I know what love is. I know I'm in love with her. She's everything to me. If you can't accept that then I'm sorry for you." I say. "Look. You dated guys before." she starts but I don't let her finish. "Yeah. But that was in middle school. I've never felt this way about anyone before. You just know. And trust me I know." I say. "You don't know." she says. "No mom, you don't know. You have no idea what love is." I say. "Excuse me. I have two kids." she says. "Yeah, but if you loved dad you two would still be together." I say. She doesn't say anything back. "That's right." I say then hang up.

* * *

I've been at the hospital for five hours now. Lucy only woke up once since we've been here. Otherwise she's been asleep. My mom keeps calling me but I'm not answering it because she's just gonna yell at me. I probably shouldn't have said that she never found love but, I was getting pissed. She doesn't believe that I love Lucy. And I do. More than anything. I don't know why she won't accept the fact that I'm gay. A couple more hours pass and I start to get tired. "Hey, do you want anything to drink?" Her mom asks me. "Umm. Water please." I say. She leaves the room and I turn back and face Lucy. She opens her eyes and looks around. She starts freaking out. "Baby, baby calm down." I say. She stops and looks at me. "What are you doing here?" she asks. "What do you mean?" I ask. "Why are you here?" she asks again. "Oh. Sorry." I say. I turn and head towards the door. "Wait, where are you going?" she asks. "Home." I say. "Why?" she asks. "Because you don't want me here." I say. "Yes I do." she says. She sits up and grabs her head. "Oww." she says laying back down. "Don't leave me please." she says. I walk back to her bed and she grabs my hand. "You don't remember waking up before do you?" I ask. "No." she says. "Look, I'm sorry. I know I should've believed you. I know you wouldn't cheat on me. It's just you've been acting weird lately so when I saw the kiss happen I freaked out and I thought the worst. And I'm sorry." she says. "It's alright." I say. "So why am I in the hospital?" She asks. "What's the last thing you remember?" I ask. "Me and my mom were coming from the store. I told her to drop me off at your house because I had to give you something and I wanted to apologize to you. And we turned on your street and that's all I remember." she says. "You were gonna give me something?" I ask. "Yeah. I was gonna give it to you next week for our two-year but then I wanted to apologize so I was gonna give it to you then." she says. "Can I have it now?" I ask. "No. Now you have to wait until our two-year." she says smiling at me. "Alright." I say. "I love you Tay. So much." she says. "I love you too." I say. "I'm sorry for being really stubborn after the party." she says. "It's okay. I would have been the same way." I say. "You must have wasted a lot of gas." she says. "I wasn't gonna let you walk home at one in the morning by yourself. It's my job to protect you. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." I say. "You're so protective." she says. "I am. I know. I have to be overprotective. You do crazy things that require me to protect you." I say. She smiles at me and I smile back. "So how long have you been here for?" she asks. "Only about six hours." I say. "Try nine." her mom says as she walks in. She hand me my water and I thank her and sit down. "Nine hours?" she asks. I nod my head. "Apparently." I say. I take a sip of water and set it on the table. "Are you gonna go home and get some rest tonight?" she asks. "No. There is no way I'm leaving you and going home." I say. "Babe, you've been at the hospital for nine hours straight. I'm proud of you." she says. "Thank you." I say. She looks at her mom. "She's deathly afraid of hospitals." she says to her mom. "Well, I'm proud of you today too. All of your heroic actions and all." her mom says. Lucy looks back at me. "Heroic?" she asks. "The doctors said that if it wasn't for Taylor you might have lost part of your leg." her mom says. "What? What did she do?" she asks. "She-." she starts. She looks at me and I shake my head. "She helped." her mom says. "Alright." Lucy says. "The doctors also said-." I shake my head again. I know she's gonna say that if it wasn't for me Lucy would be dead. "Said what?" Lucy asks. "That you should be out of the hospital in a couple of days." her mom says. "Good. I wanna be out of here in time for our two-year." she says giving my hand a squeeze. "I'm going to have to replan our date." I say. "What? Why?" she asks. "Well. I mean not completely. Just a bit." I say. "Ohh." she says. I had a whole thing planned. We were gonna go to an empty field with my truck and a portable DVD player, with a ton of movies. And we were just gonna sit there and watch movies in the back of the pickup truck surrounded by blankets and pillows. She's always wanted to do that. We can still do that but there's no way anything else is gonna happen. I figured we would probably want to but now with her leg there's no way we will. I'll end up banging it with my leg and hurting her. That's okay, I really hope she loves what I have planned. Ever since she's seen that picture that's all she's wanted to do. "I know what you have planned." she says. "You do?" I ask. "Yep." she asks. "I don't think you do." I say. Before she says anything my phone rings. "Yes mom?" I ask. "How is she?" She asks. "Good. She's good." I say. "Are you coming home at all tonight?" she asks. "If I can stay here I will." I say. "Well. I don't think that's the best idea. You don't need to get that attached to her." she says. "Oh my god, mom when are you gonna learn that I do love her. No matter what you think or say I'm in love with her. I have been for two years now mom! God." I say. "I don't understand why you think that." she says. "Baby, calm down." Lucy says. "I'm calm." I say. She grabs the phone out of my hands. "Hi. Listen I love your daughter, and I know she loves me. It would really help our relationship if you would just accept us. I would never do anything to hurt your daughter and I know she would never hurt me." she says. "Why?" she asks. "It's not hurting anyone." she says. "Well maybe you should talk to her and get her perspective. She's okay with it. She has been since we told her." she says. "She does know that actually." she says. "Talk to her." she says. She holds out the phone towards her mom. Her mom takes it and leaves the room. "Your mom is difficult." she says. "Tell me about it." I say. "She believes that I love you. But she told me to quit because you don't really love me." she says. I just roll my eyes. My mother is ridiculous. "I do love you." I say. "I know baby. I love you too." she says back. I lean down and peck her on the lips. Her mom walks back in and hands me my phone. "I think we worked things out to an extent." she says. "Good." I say. I stay there over night and throughout the next day. At around five o o'clock, the doctor tells Luce she can leave the hospital. At six we are completely ready to leave. "Here." I say handing her the crutches. "Thank you." she says grabbing them. We leave the hospital and her mom pulls the car up to the front. I open the door for her and help her inside the car. I get to my car and follow them home. I get out of my car and help her out of hers. "Baby, I'm okay." she says. "I know. I just wanna help." I say. She smiles at me. "I know." she says. We get inside the house and immediately I'm panicked picking things up making sure that she won't get hurt. She puts her crutches on the floor and starts to walk to the couch. I run up to her and slide an arm around her waist. "Baby, you're not supposed to put weight on it." I say. She laughs and rolls her eyes. "I'm fine." she says. I help her to the couch and she sits down. I sit down next to her and she lays her head on my lap. "You're beautiful." she says. I smile. "Thank you. Not as beautiful as you though." I say. "You are just perfect. You've been perfect the last two years. Especially lately. With the hospital and stuff. And last year with Noah." she says. "Well, when you need me I'm here." I say. She doesn't say anything so I know what she's thinking about. "Miss him?" I ask. "Everyday." she says. I run a hand through her hair. She grabs my hand and kisses it. I just smile at her. Noah was her twin brother. If it wasn't for her I would have been shot. We were walking home last year from a friend's house. Noah, his girlfriend, Lucy and I. A car drove past and started shooting at us. Lucy jumped on top of me and turned into a human shield. When the shooting stopped I got up but I realized that Luce was shot. She got shot in the back once and right away I called 911. They got there and took us all to the hospital. Lucy and Noah both went into surgery. When Lucy was done I sat by her until she woke up. "Hey baby." I said. "You're okay?" she asked. "Yeah. I'm okay." I said. She asked where Noah was and if he was okay. I told her he was still in surgery and I didn't know. But a couple of hours later her parents came in and told her he didn't make it. That was a hard time for her. And it didn't help our relationship. She shut me out and didn't want to talk about anything. But we talked about it and we fixed it. "Taylor?" she says. "Sorry." I say. "What are you thinking about?" she asks. "That night." I say. "Hey." she says sitting up. I look at her. "It's okay." she says. "I know." I say. This is why I hate hospitals. Every time I'm in one I think about that night. "Baby." she says. "Sorry." I say again. She kisses my forehead and lays back down. After about ten minutes she falls asleep on me. The next week her leg gets better and she can walk on it but she still has some problems. "Ready?" I ask. "Yeah." she says. I help her in my truck and I drive off to the dinner place. We eat and have a good time and then we get back in my truck. I drive to the field where I have everything planned. "What are we doing here?" she asks. "You'll see." I say. I go to the back of the truck and take the blankets out of the boxes that are attached to the truck. I lay one out on the bottoms and then another one on top of that. I put the pillows out and the DVD player and the movies. I go to her side of the truck and help her out. I bring her to the back of it and she literally falls apart. Tears start pouring down her face. "Baby?" I say. "Baby what's wrong?" I ask. "Nothing. This is perfect. I told you about this nearly two years ago. And you remembered." we says. "Well of course I did. You told me you wanted to do this. So I made it happen." I say. She hugs me. "Thank you!" she says. "Your welcome." I say back hugging her tightly. "I brought some movies along. I wasn't sure what kind of movie you wanted to watch so I brought a lot of them." I say. I help her into the back of the truck and I hop on also. We pick a movie and lay down and watch. We share an occasional kiss but mostly we just snuggle. This night could not be more perfect. "Taylor?" she says. "Yeah?" I ask. "There's something I want to give to you." she says. "Okay." I say sitting up. She digs into her pocket and pulls something out. "Close your eyes." she says. I close them and I feel something go around my neck. I open them and see a necklace with a ring on it. I look back at her and she's wearing one too. I grab it and hold it up so I can see it. On the inside engraved is the "I'll love you forever." in cursive. I look up at her. Before I can say anything she starts talking. "It's a promise ring. It's letting you know that one day I will marry you. Whenever that is, wherever that is, I will marry you. And this is my promise to you. I promise you I'll marry you one day. And if you don't want to or it's too big of a responsiblity to accept now. By all means take it off." she says. "I love it." is all I can think to say. I lean forward and kiss her. I pull away and she's just smiling. "Really?" she asks. "Really. I can't wait until we get married." I say. We go back to cuddling and finish the rest of the movie. It's about ten o'clock and we decide to go back home. We put the blankets back in the truck and get in. I drive back to her house and help her to the door. "You're sure you don't want to come inside?" she asks. "I would love to. You know that." I say leaning forward and kissing her. "But I told my mom I would be home tonight." I say. "Alright, baby." she says. "Are you sure you don't need help getting to your room?" I ask. "I've got it." she says. "Alright. I'll be over tomorrow though." I say. "You always are." she says. I smile. "I love you." I say. "I love you too." she says. We both lean forward and kiss each other. I pull away. "Bye." I say. "Bye." she says. I turn and walk to my truck and I hear the door close behind me.

* * *

Lucy's POV: I close the door and watch her walk down the stairs. I see a guy walking down the street but I don't think anything of it. Until he jumps on top of Taylor. He jumps on her and throws her into the ground. He stands up above her and I see she's not moving. My brain isn't working and I'm not moving. I'm just watching it happen. He goes straight for her pants and he unbuttons them and pulls them down. Then my brain kicks in. I grab the bat that's sitting by the door and open the door. "Hey!" I yell. He completely ignores me. I walk to him and swing the bat at him. I hit him in the side and he falls on the ground. "What the hell!" the guy yells. I take the bat and swing again this time hitting him in the stomach. He rolls over on his side grabbing his stomach in pain. I kick him in the stomach making him howl in pain. I get low on the ground next to him and see his face. "You little fucker!" I yell. "Can't you just leave her alone? God dammit Nick!" I scream. He gives me a little smirk and I kick him again. I help him up and push him away. He starts to limp away and I give him another swing. He falls on the ground and I jump on him. At this point I've completely forgotten that Taylor is laying on the ground unconscious. I punch him a couple of times in the face and i just keep going. Then I hear someone yell. "Hey! Get off him!" I look up and see Thomas and Michael running toward me. I look back at Nick and he's still got that stupid smirk on his face. I punch him again then get off. "Get him out of here." I say to them. "I swear to god if I ever see you again, I'll fuck you up even worse." I say. They pick him up and I punch him one last time in the gut. They walk away with him and then I remember Taylor. I turn around and see her lying there. "Shit." I grab the bat and throw it up by the house. I run to Taylor and get on the ground next to her. "Tay?" I say. Nothing. She's completely out. I pull her pants back up and I scoop her up and carry her inside. "Mom!" I scream up the stairs. I head to the couch and lay her on it. "What!" my mom screams back. "I need help! Taylor's hurt!" I say. She walks down the stairs and sees us. "What happened?" she asks. "Nick was. And he. Slammed her. Head. Ground. Help." is all that comes out. She comes over by us and checks the back of her head. "She's not bleeding but she'll be out for a bit." she says. "She's gonna be okay though?" I ask. "She'll be just fine sweetie I promise you." she says. I sit down next to Taylor and wait. God this is my fault. I should have made her come inside. This is not how I wanted to end our two-year anniversary. I sit next to her for about twenty minutes. Then she starts to move around. "Ahh. What happened?" she asks sitting up. "No. Baby lay down." I say. She lays her head back down. "What happened?" she asks. "Nick." I say. She sits up and looks at me. I scoot closer to her and hug her. "I'm sorry." I say. She pulls away. "What are you talking about?" she asks. "I shouldn't have let you leave." I say. "Baby what happened?" she asks again. I take a deep breath. "He grabbed you and threw you on the ground. He tried to rape you. So I beat the crap out of him." I say. "You did?" she asks. "I did." I say. "Where is he now?" she asks. "Thomas and Michael took him away. I probably gave him a pretty nice black eye." I say. "Baby. You saved me. Again." she says. "When did I save you the first time?" I ask. "When you jumped in front of me and refused to let me get hit with a bullet." she says. "Hey. I love you. There is no way I would let you get hurt." I say. She smiles and kisses me. "Now lay down." I say grabbing her and pulling her into me. She falls asleep on me and I don't fall asleep. I don't want to. I need to be awake and watch out. I text her mom and tell her that the truck died and she'll fix it tomorrow. Her mom texted back saying okay. At around midnight I finally start to fall asleep. When I wake up in the morning Taylor is still sleeping on me. I slip away and make a little breakfast for us. "I smell bacon." she says walking into the kitchen. "You should." I say. We eat breakfast and she has to go home. She drives home and I stay at home. The next day we don't hang out she tells me she's too tired. Two days later she calls me. "Hello?" I answer. "Hey. Can I come over?" she asks. "Yeah. Of course." I say. "Okay. I'll be over in a couple of minutes." she says. "Okay. Bye." I say "Bye." she says and hangs up. That was weird. She seemed weird. I wait a couple of minutes and she knocks on the door. "Hey." I say opening the door. I step out of the way so she can come in. "I'm not coming in." she says. "What? Why?" I ask. "Luce." she says. "What? Why are you so shaky?" I ask. "Look. I can't do this anymore." she says. I see her eyes start to fill with tears. "What?" I ask. Did I hear that right? "I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry." she says. "No. Your kidding me right?" I ask. The tears start to fall down her face. I cup her face in my hands and wipe them away. She doesn't move or pull away. "I'm sorry. But I can't do this." she says. "Don't. Don't do this." I say. "I'm sorry." she says. I feel the tears start to run down my face. "Don't please." she says. "I'm sorry." she says and turns around. I grab her arm and pull her back around. "Baby. Stop." she says. "You can't break up with me and still call me baby." I say. "Why?" I ask. "I'm sorry." she says. "No. You owe me an explanation." I say. "I just can't do it anymore." she says. She wraps her arms around my waist and pulls me into a hug. I wrap my arms around her neck and hug her tightly. She pulls away but I don't let go. "Luce." she says. I let go. She cups my cheek in with her hand. "I'm sorry. Just remember. I'll always love you. Always. I promise you. And you will always be my first love." she says. She closes her eyes and leans her forehead against mine. She opens them again and kisses me. "I'm so sorry." she says. She takes a step back then turns and walks back to her car. I'm not letting her walk away. "What happened to forever?" I ask. She stops. She doesn't say anything. "What about the promise ring I gave you?" I ask. "The promise ring you gave me. You." she says. "I told you if it was too much then you didn't have to take it." I say. "When I took it I thought we would be together forever." she says. "Then what changed?" I ask. I can feel the anger surging through me. "Taylor." I say. She turns at the change in my voice. "Leave." I say. She realizes what's happening. "Lucy. Calm down." she says. "Taylor. Leave." I say again. I'm about to explode. "Not until you calm down." she says. I start to walk towards her. She doesn't take a step back or run to her car. I get to her and she just stands there. "Just leave." I say. "Luce." she says touching my arm. I pull my arm away. She brings her hand up to my face. Shes the only person I ever met who never backed down from me. "Calm down." she says. "How am I supposed to do this with out you?" I ask. "You are very strong." she says. She kisses my forehead then turns and gets in her car. It drives off and I just watch it. I walk back inside and shut the door. I lean against it and just slide down it and fall apart. I'm not even sure how long I was on the ground for. There's a knock at the door then it opens. "Lucy. Are you okay?" she asks. She sits next to me. "How'd you know?" I ask. "She told me to make sure you were okay." she says. "Of course. I should have known she wasn't gonna let me be alone." I say. "Lucy." she says and hugs me. "She's gone." I say. "She left me." I add. "Did she say why?" she asks. "She couldn't do it anymore. That's all she said. She told me she will always love me." I say. "What do you want to do?" she asks. "Sit here and cry." I say. Before she can say anything there's a knock at the door. I stand up and open it. "Mother fucker. Did you not hear what I said last week." I say. "Look. I wanted to apologize." he says. "You don't need to apologize to me. Apologize to her." I say. "Wait. What happened? Are you okay?" he asks. "Why?" I ask. "You look like you've been crying." he says. "So. What if I have?" I ask. "Well what happened?" he asks. "If you must know. She's broken up with me." I say. He smiles. "Finally. I was waiting for that." he says. "Do you want me to beat the shit out of you again?" I ask. "Sorry. It's just. She told me she was gonna break up with you before we got serious. She didn't want to be a cheater." he says. "What?" I ask. "That's what she said." he says. I pull him into my house and throw him on the ground. I kick him in the stomach as many times as I can. "Lucy." Jasmine says. I ignore her. I get on top of him and punch him in the face a couple of times. Jasmine grabs me and pulls me off. She grabs Nick and throws him out of the house. "Leave." she says. He can barely walk. "Hey. Chill out." she says. "You should go." I say. "You sure?" she asks. "Yeah. I need to go for a run. I don't wanna explode on you." I say. "Yeah. Just call me if you need me okay?" she asks. "Yeah. Okay." I say. She leaves and I go put on shorts and a T-shirt and go outside and just start running. I have no idea where I'm going but I just run. When I get back home I realize I was out running for 4 hours. "Where have you been?" my mom asks. "Running." is all I say. "I thought we talked about running. How long was it?" she asks. "I don't know. 4 hours." I say. "I thought we agreed three hours per week. No more." she says. "Look I just didn't want to explode. I needed to run. I still need to. I don't want to stop." I say. "What are you talking about?" she asks. "It's over. She finished it." I say. "What?" she asks. "She's broken up with me mom. Done." I say. "Why on earth would she do that? She loves you." she says. "She didn't want to be a cheater." I say then walk upstairs.

* * *

My phone rings. I look at the name. Taylor. Again. I push ignore and set it down. I can't believe she has the nerve to call me at least once a day this past week. I need to run. I change into my running shorts and a t-shirt. I put on my shoes and grab Buddy's leash. "Come on Buddy!" I yell. He runs to me and I put his leash on. "I'm going for a run." I say to my mom. "It's 8:30." she says. "And?" I ask. "Just be careful." she says. "Don't worry, I've got this big guy to protect me." I say petting Buddy on the head. "Don't I boy." I say. He barks. "See." I say to my mom. "Alright. Got your phone?" she asks. "Always." I say pointing to Buddy's collar. I added a little strap on it that holds my phone when I run. We walk out the door and it's just a little chilly which is the perfect temperature for going running in. We start with a mild jog and head towards the lake. Then I pick it up to a run. Buddy stays by my side, keeping up with my pace. We run down to the lake and I let him cool off in the water. He loves the water so much. I check my phone while he's running in it. I have a another missed call and a text message. Both from Taylor. I don't even bother looking at the text message. "Buddy come on!" I yell. He runs to me and shakes off. I put his leash back on and slip my phone in his collar again. Right away we start running. I just need to release my anger. I mean who does that. After two years? And not even explain why. Not that I need one. She promised me she would never cheat on me. I guess she broke that promise. I loved her and she told me she loved me. I still do love her. I hate this because now I'm so angry at everyone. I've been running every day this month. I'm four blocks away from my house and I decide that I need a longer run. I run a couple more blocks down the street and then Buddy starts acting weird. He pulls out of my hand and runs off down the street. "Buddy!" I yell after him. I start to chase him and I see that he stops at someone. They get down on their knees and start to pet him. He licks them and when I get closer I see who it is. "Hey Buddy. I know, I missed you too." she says petting his head. "I know I haven't seen you in a month. That's my fault. I'm sorry. I'll be seeing you a lot more. I promise." she says to him. I walk up to them. "Hey." she says standing up smiling. "Hey. Sorry." I say. She hands over the leash and I take it from her. "It's fine. I haven't seen him for a while." she says. I don't say anything back. "So how have you been?" she asks. "Fine. You?" I say. "I'm alright." she says. I need to get out of here or I'm gonna break down. "Well I should probably-." she cuts me off. "Look, Lucy can we talk?" she asks. "Now's not really the best time, I've been keeping up this schedule with Buddy now, running and stuff. I don't wanna mess with it." I say. "Oh, you've been running again?" she asks. "Yeah. Helps get the anger out." I say. She nods her head. "How much have you been running?" she asks. I look away. "Luce." she says. "I have it under control." I say. "Well, when would be a good time for you to talk?" she asks. "How about i just call you." I say. "We both know you're not gonna call me." she says. Why does she have to know me so well? "Okay. Tomorrow. 10:00. Target Starbucks." I say. "Really?" she asks. "Yeah." I say. "Okay. Sounds good. Then I'll see you tomorrow." she says. "Yep." I say. "It was nice seeing you." she says. "Yeah. You too." I say making sure I don't let any emotions slip. She leans forward like she's gonna give me a hug but I take a step back. "I don't think that's a good idea." I say. "Why?" she asks. "Cause if I start I'm not sure I'll be able to stop." I say. I walk away with Buddy and start running. I run six more blocks and finally head home. I get in the door and take Buddy's leash off. He sits until I take my phone from him then he trots off into the other room to get some water. I walk into the kitchen and get a cup of water. I chug it and get another one. I go and sit in the dining room and sit on a chair. I lay my head on the table and I feel Buddy lay his head on my leg. "Hey Buddy." I say. He sits down and licks my leg. I pet his head and he licks my hand. "Hey honey, when did you get home?" my mom asks walking into the room. "A few minutes ago." I say. "Did you have a nice run?" she asks sitting next to me. "The beginning was." I say. "Why? What happened?" she asks. "Buddy decided he missed Allie too much." I say. "What?" she asks. "He saw her down the street and ran to her. So I had to talk to her to get my dog back." I say. "And?" she asks. "I need the car tomorrow morning." I say. "I'm meeting her for coffee." I say. "You sure?" she asks. "Yeah." I say. "What's the worst that could happen? She already broke up with me." I say. She gives me that ridiculous sad face that I can't stand. "I'm taking a shower." I say. I stand up and walk upstairs. I take a shower and get out. I have a new message. From Jasmine. "Hey, I'm coming over." she says. I got it seven minutes ago. I throw on some sweatpants and a shirt and put my hair up. Right at that moment the door opens. "Hey Buddy!" she says. I walk down the stairs. "Don't give me that pity look." I say. "Yeah, as if I'd give you a pity look." she says. I sit on the couch and she follows. "So, how was your run today?" she asks. "Not good. You'll never guess who I ran into." I say. "Really?" she asks. "Yeah. And you'll never guess who I have to go to coffee with tomorrow." I say. "Why?" she asks. "Cause she wanted to talk and I couldn't say no. She's just so... She's got that thing that makes me have to say yes. I don't know. I love her." I say. "You need to learn how to say no." she says. "I can't. Her beauty stopped me in my tracks. I lost my confidence." I say. Buddy jumps on the couch and lays next to me and put his head on my leg. I just pet him. "What do you think she wants to talk to you about?" she asks. "I don't know." I say. We sit there and watch tv for the rest of the night and end up falling asleep. I wake up at 9:00 the next morning and take a shower. I get dressed and do my hair and make-up. I wake up Jasmine. "Hey, I gotta go. Coffee date." I say. "No. Not a coffee date. Talking." she says. "I'll stay here and leave later." she says. "Alright." I say. I walk out the door and climb in the car. I drive to target and walk inside. I look at my outfit. Shorts with a Pink tank and a jacket. I walk back outside and throw my jacket in the car. Better. I walk back inside and walk to the Starbucks. I see her sitting there drinking her coffee. "Hey." I say walking up to her. "Hey." she says. I sit down next to her. "Taylor!" the girl at the counter yells. Taylor gets up and grabs the cup. She sits back down and hands the cup to me. "I ordered for you already." she says. "Thanks." I say grabbing it. I take a sip. "Pumpkin spice?" I ask. "Well, yeah. It's October so I know this is your fall coffee time. And you always get pumpkin spice in the fall." she says. It's so hard not to just kiss her right now. "Thank you." I say smiling. "Your welcome." she says. "So what did you want to talk about?" I ask. She takes a sip of her coffee. "I want you back." she says. I knew it. "No. I need you back." she says. No. No. No. "Luce, you don't understand. This has been the hardest month of my life." she says. I take a deep breath. "I don't understand?" I ask. Breathe. "I don't understand how hard this past month has been?" I ask. "No. That's not what I meant. I just." she stops. She leans forward and puts a hand on the back of my neck. I pull away. "No. I can't." i say. I stand up with coffee in hand. "Lucy, wait." she says. "I can't." I say. I keep walking and walk out the door. I get back in my car, and I feel the tears just roll down my face. After a couple of minutes I calm down. I drive home and park the car. I get out and walk to my front door. "God dammit Taylor!" I yell. She stands up. "What the fuck do you want from me?" I ask. She steps closer and pulls me closer by the waist. "I don't want anything from you. I just want you." she says. I close my eyes. This can't happen. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let my mom influence me. I don't care about her. I only care about you." she says. I open my eyes. "Your mom?" I ask. "Yeah. My mom." she says. "Wait. Your mom. That's why you broke up with me?" I ask. "She told me I needed to quit this funny business or she would kick me out." she says. I lean forward and kiss her with so much passion. I put my hand on the back of her neck pulling her closer. Our bodies are pressed together and I try to take in every inch of her. She pulls back. "What the hell?" she says. "Oh my god. You made me believe that you cheated on me!" I say stepping back. "What?" she asks. "You made me think you cheated on me! That's why I thought you broke up with me." I say. She takes a step forward grabbing my hand. "I promised you I would never. Why would you think that?" she asks. "Everyone told me that. I didn't want to believe it but everyone told me that." I say. "When I make a promise I keep that promise." she says. "Yeah?" I ask. She nods. "So when you promised Buddy you would be seeing him more?" I ask. "I don't break my promises." she says. "And what about when you promised me forever?" I ask. "I meant it." she says stepping closer to me. "I love you. I have for two years." She says. "Can you promise me something?" I ask. "Anything." She says. "Never break up with me, ever again." I say. "I promise." she says. I grab her arms and kiss her forcefully and she takes a step back. I pull away. "I love you too." I say. I kiss her again this time even more forcefully. She takes a couple more steps and she hits the door. She opens it and we step into the house. I close the door without our lips leaving each other. She forcefully pins me up against the door. Her hands slip down my body to my shorts. She unbuttons them and starts to unzip them. "Ahem." I hear. Taylor pulls away and we both look at the couch. Jasmine is sitting there watching tv with Buddy laying next to her. I look back at Taylor and we just burst out laughing. I button my shorts back up. "You're still here?" I ask. "I thought you were gonna want me here when you got back." she says. I walk over to her and sit on the couch next to her. "I thought so too. But plans changed." I say. Buddy crawls on me and licks my face. "Hey Buddy." I say. "Don't let me stop you from Uhh..." she says. "I'll go." she says. "No, you don't have to." Taylor says. She stands up. "No. I think I do." she says. She walks to the door past Taylor and whispers something in her ear. "Got it." Taylor says. Jasmine grabs her keys and leaves. I stand up, grab Taylor's hand and walk to my room.

* * *

"That's why you don't break up with me." I say. "Maybe I should break up with you more often." she says. "If that's how you're gonna act." she adds. I push the hair out of her face. "I have missed you so much." I say. "You don't understand how nice that was. How good it felt." I add. "Trust me I do." she says. "Just to feel you again." I say. "I've just missed all of you." I add. "Lucy? Are you home?" I hear my mom say. "Shit." I say. I climb out of the bed and put on some clothes. "Get dressed." I whisper. I slip out of my room and walk down the stairs. "Here." I say. "How did your coffee talk go?" she asks. Before I can answer Taylor walks down the stairs. "It went well." I say grabbing Taylor around the waist and pulling her closer to me. She puts her arms around my neck. "We talked about things and.-" she cuts me off. "What did I tell you about sex in my house?" she asks. "Not to do it while you were home." Taylor says. "And..?" my mom asks. "And..?" I say. I look at Taylor. "And not a secret." my mom says. "Well it's not a secret if you found out without us even talking." I say. "You two are glowing right now." she says. "The after sex glow." she adds. "Oh my god mom." I say. "Do you have anything planned for tonight?" Taylor asks. "I think we're going to my sister's house for early dinner tonight. And the football game." My mom says. "Oh. Yeah." I say. "Can she come with?" I ask. "Once a part of this family, always a part of this family." My mom says. "Thank you." She says. My mom gives her a hug. "Alright, well we have to go to the store for some food so want to come with?" my mom asks. "I'd love to." Taylor says. We get in the car and drive to the store. We both get out and I grab her hand. We walk into the store and immediately I see Nick and Erika. Nick's face is still a little messed up but not as much as it was last month. "Hey guys." Nick says. I look at Taylor and she's looking away. "Hey." I say. "Are you guys back together now?" Erika asks. "Yeah." I say smiling. "That's good." she says. "Yeah. Really good." Nick says. He's staring at Taylor. "Oh my god. Taylor look what I just bought." Erika says reaching into her bag. Taylor leans toward her to see what she's grabbing. I lean towards Nick. "Wanna stop undressing my girlfriend with your eyes?" I ask. "Not really." he says with a smirk. "Sorry, let me rephrase that. Stop undressing my girlfriend with your eyes or I will fucking scratch them off." I say. I pull away and he looks a little uneasy. "Come on baby, let's go shopping." I say. "Alright. Bye." Taylor says. "Bye guys!" Erika says. They walk away and i see that Nick still has a little limp to his walk. Good. We walk away in a hurry. "Whoa. Calm down. What's up?" she asks. "Fucking Nick." I say. "Leave it." she says. "No. Every time he sees you he fucking rapes you with his eyes since he didn't get to do it the first time." I say. "It's okay. He's not gonna do anything to me." she says. "No. It's not okay!" I say. "Hey. Baby calm down." she says bringing her hand up to my face. "Everything is fine." she adds. I take a deep breath. "Sorry." I say. "It's alright." she says. She leans forward and pecks me on the lips. "I'm sorry. I'm just. I hate him." I say. "I'm glad I got to beat the crap out of him twice." I add. "Twice?" she asks. "Yeah once when he tried to hurt you and again when he tried to apologize. When he told me that you broke up with me because you didn't want to cheat on me. You wanted to break up with me before things were serious with you and him. I didn't want to believe it but that was the only lead I had." I say. "He said what?" she asks. She starts walking back towards them. I grab her around the waist and pull her back. "He's the reason you wouldn't answer any of my phone calls." she says. "No. Tay I wouldn't have answered them anyways. It would have just been too painful to listen to your voice." I say. "Let's just forget it now okay? Were back together and I love you. That's all that matters yeah?" I say. "Yeah. That's all that matters. I love you too." she says. We find my mom and shop with her forgetting about Nick. We finish shopping and head to my aunts. "Lucy!" my cousins scream. "Hey! Guess who I brought with me." I say. "Who?" they ask. Taylor comes through the door. "Taylor!" they scream. They haven't seen her since before we broke up. We play around with them a little and I sit on the couch. Taylor keeps playing with them and I start to drift off. "Hey. Why are you so tired?" Taylor asks sitting next to me. "I don't know. From all this running." I say. "How often have you been running?" as asks. "Two hours a day and if I skip a day I double the next." I say. "But you've been drinking lots of water?" she asks. "Yes. I have." I say. "And eating?" she asks. "For the most part." I say. I regret saying it the second it comes out. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asks. "Nothing." I say. "When's the last time you had a full meal?" she asks. "Two nights ago." I say. "Babe. You went through this already. Last year." she says. "I know. I run when I'm depressed. And I don't eat as much." I say. "Come play with us!" my little cousin screams. "I will!" Taylor screams and gets on the floor next to them. I slowly start to fall asleep.

* * *

Taylor's POV: "Dinner time everyone!" Lucy's aunt calls out. We stand up and both of the little kids go into the dining room. I sit next to Lucy. Should I wake her? She probably isn't getting enough sleep either. I stand up and sit at the table. "I'm just gonna let her sleep. She hasn't been very healthy lately. She's been running too much and not eating and not sleeping." I say. "How do you know that?" her mom asks. "Jasmines been giving me updates." I say. "Every time they would hang out Jasmine would text me and let me know how she was. I just needed to know." I say. "You could have asked me." her mom says. "I know she wouldn't tell you how she actually felt." I say. "She tells Jasmine everything. And Jasmine just knows. They grew up together." I add. "Yeah. I guess that's true." her mom says. "I just hope it doesn't get out of control, like last year." I say. "We won't let it get that bad." she says. I look back at Luce. She's just beautifully sleeping. "There's no way I'm gonna let it get that bad again. I'm not sure her body would be able to handle that." I say. "Let's not worry about that." her mom says. We all start eating and I occasionally glance at Lucy. If her eating and running gets as bad as it did last year I don't know what would happen. Last year it was so bad she was almost hospitalised. If it happened again I'm sure she would have to be in the hospital for a while. She'd probably be diagnosed as anorexic, and I know how she feels about eating disorders. She always told me if I ever stopped eating or I started to throw up my food she would make sure I got better and she would be with me 24/7 just to be safe. I know she wouldn't be able to handle it if I had one, let alone herself. "Taylor?" Lucy's mom says breaking me from my thoughts. "Sorry." I say. "Stop worrying sweetie. She'll be just fine." she says. "I know. I can't help but worry." I say looking at her. I turn back to look at Lucy. "She means everything to me. I wouldn't be able to handle losing her." I say. "Let's not think that far ahead now." she says. "Let's just focus on getting her better." she adds. I nod my head so she knows I'm listening. "Yeah." I add. After we finish eating I sit back on the couch next to her. She stirs around then wakes up. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." I say. "That's alright." she says leaning on me. "You feel alright?" I ask. "Yeah. I'm fine." she says. I feel her forehead and it's burning. "Baby you have a fever." I say. "Do i?" she asks. "Yeah." I say. "You're sure you feel alright?" I ask. "Not really." she says. "Alright. I'll drive you home." I say. "No. I'm alright." she says. "You just said you don't feel good. I'm taking you home." I say. She rolls her eyes at me. I stand up and walk to her mom in the kitchen. "Lucy's not feeling good, I'm just gonna take her home." I say. "That's fine. If you need anything just call." she says. "I will." I say. I grab the car keys and take Lucy home. We walk inside and she lays on the couch. I shut the door and sit next to her. "Baby." I say. She looks up at me. "Yeah?" she asks. "Why don't you get some more sleep." I say. "Alright." she says. She scoots closer to me laying her head on my lap. I feel her fall asleep almost instantly. If anything were to happen to her I would probably die. I love her to death, and she knows that. I know she's still having a really tough time with Noah not being here. It's almost the one year anniversary of his death and she's not gonna do well. I won't be able to help. The thing is, she's so fragile. When she's mad or depressed she gets out of control. I remember the first time she got so mad and I had to calm her down. I was terrified. I thought she was gonna punch me. But she looked so scared. All I did was pulled her into a hug. She tried to pull away but I just held on. And she stopped fighting it and just fell apart. The first couple of times it happened I was scared but I knew what to do. I saw that happen way to many times. Other people just walk away. All I have to do is touch her and she just melts. I get up and make sure she doesn't wake up. I head to the kitchen to get a glass of water. My phone rings and I answer it. "Hey. How is Lucy today?" Jasmine asks. "Tired. She's slowly getting back to how she was last year. But I'm not gonna let that happen." I say. "You guys at home now?" she asks. "Yeah." I say. "Can I come over?" she asks. "Yeah. Of course." I say. "Alright. I'll be over soon." she says. I set my phone on the counter. I take a sip of water. "What are you doing?" Lucy asks walking in the room. "Hey. Just getting water." I say. "Why are you talking about me?" she asks. "Relax." I say. She starts to get heated. I take a step closer. She steps back. "Luce." I say. "No! Just back off! You never listen to me! You don't understand me! You think you know me but you don't! You're a terrible girlfriend and I don't even know why I'm with you!" she yells. She turns and starts to walk towards the living room. I know she doesn't mean any of it but that hurt. I walk after her. She starts to grab things out of my bag that's sitting on the floor. She pulls them out and throws them. "What are you doing?!" I yell. "That's my stuff!" I add. "You need to get out! I don't want you here!" she yells facing me. "All you ever do is care about yourself! I don't love you! No one does! I hate you!" she yells. I take a step back. Wow. She's never been this heated. "Lucy." I say again. She just stands there. "Taylor." she says. Her voice has changed and she's not mad anymore. She's scared. She starts to breathe heavy. "I can't breathe." she says. I bring my hand up to her face. She keeps trying to breathe but I can tell she can't. Her whole body goes limp and I slowly lower her to the ground. "Lucy?" I say. She can't breath and she's gasping for air. Jasmine walks in. "Call 911!" I yell at her. I turn my attention back to Lucy. "It's gonna be okay. I promise." I say. The ambulance gets there in under a minute and they rush her to the hospital. The whole ride there she can't breath and her grip on me gets weaker by the second. When we arrive at the hospital they rush her in right away and I'm left there. I sit down and I just replay that scene over and over in my head. Did it really get this bad already? Didn't I just tell myself I wasn't gonna let this happen? Does she really feel that way about me? No. She loves me right? That's why she gave me the promise ring. Right? I reach down and grab the ring hanging around my neck. I bring it up to my face and read the inside. "I'll love you forever." it says. I take it off the necklace and put it on my finger. I close my eyes and feel myself drift off. "Taylor?" I hear. I open my eyes. Lucy's mom is standing in front of me. "Is Lucy okay?" I ask standing up. "I'm not sure yet." she says. "You don't know?" I ask. "When are we gonna find out!" I yell. "Taylor please calm down." she says. "I know you're scared." she adds. "Hey guys." My uncle says walking up to us. He's a doctor here. "How's my daughter?" she asks. "Well what she experienced was a major panic attack. You did the right thing by calling 911 so quickly." he says placing a hand on my shoulder. "Please just tell me she's okay." I say. "Please just let me see her." I add. "Why don't you follow me?" he says. He leads me through the hospital to a room. "Go right in." he says opening the door. I take a step forward and see Lucy lying on a bed. She has an oxygen tube in her nose. I turn back to my uncle. "She's gonna be okay though, right?" I ask. "Only time will tell. I'm sorry Taylor." he says. I turn back and take a seat next to Lucy. I grab her hand and she subconsciously tightens the grip. Tears spring from my eyes. "I'm so sorry baby. This is all my fault. I started this back up." I say. "I shouldn't have broken up with you. I shouldn't have let my mom have an influence on me. I'm so sorry." I say again. "I promised you I wouldn't let this happen. And now here we are, sitting in the hospital. Me freaking out because I can't lose you. I can't. I will go absolutely crazy if I lost you. I wouldn't be able to live without you. You're half of me so if you die half of me does as well." I say. "You're everything to me." I add. Her hand moves slightly across the bed. I look up at her face and her eyes slowly open. She turns her head and looks at me. She opens her mouth as if she's going to say something but then she closes it and shuts her eyes. She squeezes my hand slightly letting me know she heard me. I kiss her hand. "I love you." I say. "Forever." I add. She opens her eyes again. "Take the ring off." she says. "What?" I ask. "Take it off." she says. I let go of her hand and pull it off. I look at my finger and it has an imprint on it. "And a day." I read. I look up at her. "I'll love you forever and a day." I say. She nods her head. I put the ring back on the necklace and grab her hand with both of mine. "I'm so sorry." I say. "Don't be." she barely squeezes out. "But it's my fault." I say. "It's not." she whispers. "Its mine." she says. "I should have." she pauses taking a deep breath. "Taken." she pauses again taking another deep breath. "Hey. Don't strain yourself." I say. "I didn't mean." she takes a deep breath. "Anything I said." she finishes. "I know you didn't. I know you didn't." I say. "Just get some more rest." I say standing up to kiss her forehead. "I love you." she says then takes a huge breath. "Love you too baby." I say sitting back down. She shuts her eyes and falls back asleep.

* * *

I lean my head against the side of her bed. There's a knock at the door. I turn around. My uncle walks in. "Hey." I say. "Did she wake up yet?" he asks. "For a minute or two. Yeah." I say. "How was she?" he asks. "She could barely talk. She had a hard time breathing." I say. "Is she gonna be okay?" I ask looking at him. "Right now. All I can tell you is that she is anorexic." he says. "Of course she is. She's gonna freak when I tell her." I say. "I can't tell you how long she'll be here. But I can tell you she's not going to die. As long as she eats. And gets help from a nutritionist." he says. "Yeah. Don't worry. I'll make sure she eats." I say. "I'll make sure she gets healthy. There's no way I'm letting her go." I say looking back at her. "I'm not gonna lose you." I say lifting her hand so I can kiss it. "I love you baby." I say. I feel her squeeze my hand slightly. I feel a hand on my shoulder and I turn around. "Taylor." he says. Tears just start to pour down my face. "You are the key to making her better." he says. "Huh?" I ask. "You are the key to making her better." he says again. "How am I?" I ask. He sits down next to me. "With you, she has a reason to fight. She has a reason to stay alive. In her eyes, you are the most important thing to her. So you being here lets her know that you want her to get healthy. You have to be there for her. All the time. Whether she wants you there or not. You have to make sure that she knows what you want is her to be healthy. For her she always puts you first. Never herself. When you love someone, they are more important than anything or anyone. She's not gonna want her to be put first. But you have to be there to tell her that she is more important and that she needs to be healthy." he says. "I can do that." I say. "Good." he says standing up. I watch him walk out and then I turn back to Lucy. I lean my head against the side of her bed just looking at her. I'm so stupid. I caused this. If I wouldn't have broken up with her she would have never started to run again or eat less. I can't believe I let my stupid mom influence the most important thing to me. So she threatened to kick me out. So what. Lucy is more important than a house. And Luce obviously loves me more than my mom. My mom won't even accept me. Lucy loves me no matter what. Just at that moment my phone rings. It's my mom. "Where have you been all day?" she asks before I can even say hello. "With Lucy." I say. "What the hell. I thought I told you no more funny business." she says. "This isn't funny business mom. This is real. This is love. And now because of me being an idiot listening to you she's in the hospital. Again. She might die because I listened to you. But you know what mom. I don't care what you have to say about me and her. I love her and that's all that matters to me. You can kick me out or whatever you want but guess what. I'd rather be with Lucy and be disowned then live without her." I say. "Listen here-" she starts off. "No. I'm done listening to you. It's your turn to listen to me. I love Lucy. Nothing is going to change that. Ever." I say. Then I hang up. I turn my phone off and put it back in my pocket. I look back at Lucy. I remember the first time I had to sit in a hospital room waiting for her to wake up. That night was just terrible. "Yeah. Well he shouldn't have been drinking at all." Noah said. "I like how he thinks he can handle his alcohol but he can't." Lucy said. "And then there's Ben who looks like he could never handle his alcohol but he can." Stacy said. "And Will." I said. Lucy lifted our intertwined hands to her face and kissed my hand. I just smiled. "I love you." She said. "I love you too." I said back. Then that car rushed down the street and shots were fired. Lucy jumped onto me and stayed on me until the shots were over. "Lucy. Are you okay?" I asked. I sat up and I realised she was bleeding. "Lucy. No. No. No. Lucy." I said. She looked at me and just smiled. "Lucy. I need you to listen to me okay." I said. She just nodded but kept smiling. "Noah's hit." Stacy said. I took my jacket off and used it to try to stop the blood. I took out my phone and called 911. "911 what's your emergency?" They answered. "My girlfriend and her brother were just shot. A car drove past and shot at us." I said. They asked for a location and I gave her one. An ambulance was coming. "Lucy. Baby. It's gonna be alright. You're gonna be okay." I said. They whole time she was laying there she was just smiling at me. She didn't say a single word. When the ambulances got there one took Lucy and I and the other took Noah and Stacy. As soon as we got there Stacy and I had to wait outside. We called there parents and they came. A doctor came out telling us that Lucy was okay and she would be just fine. Her parents told me to go by her and once they found out about Noah they would come and let us know. I followed the doctor and I sat by her bed. "Taylor?" She said when she woke up. "Hey baby." I said. "You're okay?" She asked. "I'm okay. I'm just fine baby." I said. "Where's Noah?" She asked. "He's still in surgery." I said. "Taylor?" I hear Lucy say breaking me from my thoughts. "Hey baby." I say. "You okay?" She asks. "Yeah." I say. "You're sure?" She asks. "You look pale." She adds. "I'm fine. What about you?" I ask. "I'm feeling good actually." She says. "Good." I say. "So what's going on with me?" She asks. "What do you mean?" I ask. "I'm anorexic aren't I?" She asks. I lean my head on her bed. Then I nod. "I should have taken better care of myself." She says. "I put this on myself." She says. "Baby." I say grabbing her head. "Can you please. Please. Please. Get healthy." I say. "I'm gonna try my hardest." She says. "I need you." I say. Tears start to stream down my face. "You can't die Luce." I say. I see her swallow hard. "No one's gonna die. I won't do that to you." She says. I take her hand and just lean my head against it. "Taylor. Stop. I'm gonna be okay. I'll get better. I will."she says. "Baby. You're almost on the edge of starving yourself to death." I say not picking my head up. "I know it's gonna be hard. And I know it'll take time. But I'll get past this. I'm gonna try my hardest. I will. Because I have to be alive for us to get married one day." She says. I look up at her. "I'm not forgetting about that promise." She adds smiling. I give her a weak smile back. "Hey." She says. "Where's that beautiful smile of yours?" She asks. I have to smile on that one. "There it is." She says smiling back. "I'll be okay baby." She says, her voice getting serious. I just nod. "I just can't lose you Luce." I say. "You won't. You know I'll get healthy." She says. "Will you?" I ask. "Tay. You know this is gonna be hard on me. But I'm telling you this now I'm gonna need you. All the time. And I know I'm gonna try to push you away again. I'm not gonna mean it. But I will do it." I say. "I'll be here for you. Everyday. I'm not leaving you until you get better." I say. "I need you." She says. "I need and want you to be with me through this every step of the way." She says. "I will be baby. I will be." She says. The process of the hospital was just so much that it was a blur. She got help, started eating and eventually after a week and a half of being in the hospital she was allowed to leave. She has to meet with a nutritionist once a week but once she gets home things start to settle down. "I can't eat anymore." She says. "Yes. You can. Don't psych yourself out." I say. "No I can't." She says. "Baby. You need to eat everything that's on your plate." I say. "I can't." She says. "You can. I know you can. You're almost finished." I say. She picks up her fork and takes the last couple of bites. Then she sets her fork down and once I see she swallowed I smile. "See. You could." I say. "I feel disgusting." She says. "It'll pass. It always does." I say. She gets up and sits on the couch. I follow her and sit right next to her. I slip my arms around her and she quickly pulls away. "You okay?" I ask. "Yeah. I just don't want to be touched right now. I don't want you feeling my fat." She says. "You're not fat." I say. "I am." She says. "Baby. You're not. You're beautiful." I say smiling. She leans on me and i put my arm around her and we just sit there. "This is so hard." She says. "I know baby. But you're doing really good." I say. "I feel like I'm gaining so much weight." She says. "You need a little weight." I say. She sighs. "I know." She says. I kiss the side of her head and she snuggles into me more. "I love you." She says. "I love you too." I say. "And I'm so proud of you." I add. "Thanks." She says.


End file.
